California Golden Bears
The California Golden Bears are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Berkeley. Referred to in athletic competition as California or Cal, the university fields 30 varsity athletic programs and various club teams in the National Collegiate Athletic Association 's Division I primarily as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference, and for a limited number of sports as a member of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.
In 2014, Cal instituted a strict academic standard for an athlete's admission to the university. By the 2017 academic year 80 percent of incoming student athletes were required to comply with the University of California general student requirement of having a 3.0 or higher high school grade point average.
California's nickname originated in 1895 during California's dominant track and field team's tour of Midwest and Eastern universities. A blue silk banner with the golden grizzly bear, the state symbol, was displayed by the team during that tour. Since then, Cal's athletic teams have been known as the Golden Bears. Over the course of the school's history, California has won team national titles in 13 men's and 3 women's sports and 115 team titles overall. Cal athletes have also competed in the Olympics for a host of different countries.
Varsity programs
Men's varsity programs
Football
The California football team began play in 1885 and has played its home games at California Memorial Stadium since 1923, except for in 2011 while the stadium was being renovated; the team played at San Francisco's AT&T Park that season. The Bears have five national titles bestowed retrospectively by "major selectors" — 1920, 1921, 1922, 1923 and 1937 — listed by the NCAA. The team also has produced two of the oddest and most memorable plays in college football: Roy "Wrong Way" Riegels' fumble recovery and run toward the Cal goal line in the 1929 Rose Bowl; and The Play in the 1982 Big Game, a game-winning, five-lateral kickoff return as time expired.The program has produced numerous NFL stars, including:
- two Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrinees in Les Richter and Tony Gonzalez, the latter of whom is the NFL's all-time receptions leader among tight ends. Gonzalez also played basketball at Cal.
- two first overall NFL draft selections in Steve Bartkowski and Jared Goff.
- several All-Pro and Pro Bowl selections or otherwise notable players, including Aaron Rodgers, Joe Kapp, Ryan Longwell, Marshawn Lynch, DeSean Jackson, Cameron Jordan, Keenan Allen, Desmond Bishop, and Jahvid Best.
California has participated in 25 bowl games, garnering a record of 12–12–1.
| 1920 | Andy Smith | Rose | Ohio State | W 28–0 |
| 1921 | Andy Smith | Rose | Washington & Jefferson | T 0–0 |
| 1928 | Nibs Price | Rose | Georgia Tech | L 7–8 |
| 1937 | Stub Allison | Rose | Alabama | W 13–0 |
| 1948 | Pappy Waldorf | Rose | Northwestern | L 14–20 |
| 1949 | Pappy Waldorf | Rose | Ohio State | L 14–17 |
| 1950 | Pappy Waldorf | Rose | Michigan | L 6–14 |
| 1958 | Pete Elliott | Rose | Iowa | L 12–38 |
| 1979 | Roger Theder | Garden State | Temple | L 17–28 |
| 1990 | Bruce Snyder | Copper | Wyoming | W 17–15 |
| 1991 | Bruce Snyder | Citrus | Clemson | W 37–13 |
| 1993 | Keith Gilbertson | Alamo | Iowa | W 37–3 |
| 1996 | Steve Mariucci | Aloha | Navy | L 38–42 |
| 2003 | Jeff Tedford | Insight | Virginia Tech | W 52–49 |
| 2004 | Jeff Tedford | Holiday | Texas Tech | L 31–45 |
| 2005 | Jeff Tedford | Las Vegas | BYU | W 35–28 |
| 2006 | Jeff Tedford | Holiday | Texas A&M | W 45–10 |
| 2007 | Jeff Tedford | Armed Forces | Air Force | W 42–36 |
| 2008 | Jeff Tedford | Emerald | Miami | W 24–17 |
| 2009 | Jeff Tedford | Poinsettia | Utah | L 27–37 |
| 2011 | Jeff Tedford | Holiday | Texas | L 10–21 |
| 2015 | Sonny Dykes | Armed Forces | Air Force | W 55–36 |
| 2018 | Justin Wilcox | Cheez-It | TCU | L 7–10 |
| 2019 | Justin Wilcox | Redbox | Illinois | W 35–20 |
| 2023 | Justin Wilcox | Independence | Texas Tech Red Raiders | L 14-34 |
| 2024 | Justin Wilcox | Los Angeles | UNLV | L 13-24 |
Basketball
The California men's basketball team has represented the University of California intercollegiately since 1907 and subsequently began full conference play in 1915. Cal basketball's home court is Haas Pavilion, which was constructed atop of the old Harmon Gymnasium using money donated in the late 1990s in part by the owners of Levi-Strauss. The program has seen success throughout the years culminating in a national championship in 1959 under legendary coach Pete Newell and have reached the final four two other times in 1946 and 1960. The 1926–27 team finished the season with a 17–0 record and was retroactively named the national champion by the Premo-Porretta Power Poll.The current head coach of the California men's basketball program is Mark Madsen. Some notable NBA players that spent time playing in Berkeley include Jaylen Brown, Jason Kidd, Kevin Johnson, and Darrall Imhoff.
Baseball
The Cal baseball team plays at Evans Diamond, located between Haas Pavilion, the Recreational Sports Facility, and Edward's Track Stadium. Cal has appeared in the post-season a total of nine times, including five times in the College World Series; Cal won the title in 1947 and 1957. The team is currently coached by Mike Neu, who took the helm in 2018.In September 2010, the university announced that baseball would be one of five sports cut as a cost-cutting measure. However, in April 2011, after receiving more than $9 million in pledges from supporters of the program, the program was reinstated. In June 2011, the team made its most recent appearance in the College World Series.
Perhaps the most famous Cal player was second baseman Jeff Kent, who led the Golden Bears to the 1988 College World Series, and would go on to be named the 2000 National League Most Valuable Player as a member of the San Francisco Giants. Shortstop Geoff Blum of Cal's 1992 College World Series team hit the game-winning home run in the 14th inning of Game 3 of the 2005 World Series for the Chicago White Sox.
Current Golden Bears in Major League Baseball include New York Mets outfielder Mark Canha, Texas Rangers shortstop Marcus Semien, and Chicago White Sox first baseman and left fielder Andrew Vaughn. Vaughn is Cal's highest ever MLB draft selection, having been selected third overall by the White Sox in 2019. San Diego Padres manager Bob Melvin also played at Cal, having helped the team earn third place in the 1980 College World Series.
Bowling (discontinued)
Men's bowling was a varsity-level intercollegiate sport at the University of California in the 1970s and won a national championship in 1979, governed by the ABC.Crew
Crew has a long and storied history as the oldest sport at the university, beginning with the formation of the University of California Boat Club in 1875. Competitive racing as known today began in 1893. In 1928, 1932, and 1948, Cal crews won gold at the Olympics while representing the United States.National champions:
- Varsity 8 : 1928, 1932, 1934, 1935, 1939, 1949, 1960, 1961, 1964, 1976, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2016, 2022, 2023
- Second varsity 8 : 1941, 1947, 1951, 1959, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2014, 2019, 2023
- Freshman 8 : 1938, 1982, 1998, 2000, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2011
- Third varsity 8 : 2014, 2023
- Varsity 4 with coxswain : 2001, 2002, 2007, 2009, 2023
Cross country
The California Golden Bears men's cross country team appeared in the NCAA Cross Country Championships five times, with their highest finish being 16th place in the 2007–08 school year.
| 2007 | Men | No. 16 | 434 |
| 2008 | Men | No. 22 | 477 |
| 2010 | Men | No. 31 | 678 |
| 2015 | Men | No. 23 | 524 |
| 2016 | Men | No. 31 | 776 |
Rifle (discontinued)
Men's rifle began intercollegiate competition at the University of California in the 19th century and won 5 national championships in the 1950s. At that time, the national event required five firing members per team, one alternate, a team captain and a coach. The national championship competition consisted of ten shots per firing member at 50 feet, indoors.Rugby
The Golden Bears rugby team has won 33 championships since the national collegiate championships for rugby began in 1980. Current head coach and Cal alumnus Jack Clark took over the team in 1984, and has achieved prolonged success, leading the Bears to 28 national titles, including twelve consecutive championships from 1991 to 2002, five more consecutive titles from 2004 to 2008, and back-to-back titles in 2010 to 2011 and 2016 to 2017.Cal also has competed in the Collegiate Rugby Championship, the highest profile college rugby sevens tournament in the U.S., winning the title each year from 2013 to 2017. The CRC was held every June from 2011 through 2019 at Subaru Park in the Philadelphia area. Cal also reached the finals of the 2010 CRC, losing to Utah in sudden death extra time, and finished third in the 2012 CRC. Cal won the 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 CRC titles.
In September 2010, the university announced that rugby would be one of five varsity sports cut as a cost-cutting measure, though the team would have continued to represent the university as a "varsity club sport." A large group of rugby supporters organized to oppose the relegation. On February 11, 2011, the administration reversed its decision on rugby and two other sports, thus continuing them as sponsored varsity sports.